The Stars That Guide Us
by Duskay
Summary: After her argument with Weiss, Blake decides to leave Beacon and join Sun on his travels. Follow their adventures as they meet new people, make important discoveries about themselves and each other, and get into more than a little trouble along the way.


**Lately, I've been dying with the amount of feels I have for Blake and Sun. They're my two favorite characters, and I think they compliment each other nicely. So, for my first ever fanfic, I wrote this up based on and idea I've been tossing around in my head about how the volume could've ended differently. Hopefully, I'll find a better cover later, but I didn't want to wait any longer to publish this, so if you have any suggestions for me, feel free to send me a PM. To clarify: In this story, Blake decides to leave with Sun after they confront Roman, but before they have a chance to be reunited with the rest of Team RWBY. If you like it (or if you don't, and have constructive criticism for me, or really anything else) please leave a review. Seriously, as most of you probably know, writers live off of those things. Thanks, and without further ado, the story. **

Sun Wukong got up, yawning and stretching his stiff muscles. So used to being a lone traveler, he almost jumped out of his skin when he heard a voice behind him softly inquire, "Not a morning person, huh?"

Stifling his cry, the faunus calmed his momentary panic, having recognized the voice. He turned around and was met with the calm, almost bored expression of Blake Belladonna.

Scratching his head, Sun grinned at her.

"Good morning to you, too. And of course, I can't think of a better way to start the day then a shock-induced heart attack."

Blake simply rolled her eyes, handing him an apple. "Be ready to leave in an hour. It's about time we left Vale behind." And with those few words, she turned on her heel, striding away from their temporary camp in a patch of woods outside of the city.

Sun shrugged off her ice-like disposition, putting it down to nerves after having just left behind her home and team. _No matter how collected she acts_, he reasoned,_ she's still human- er… faunus._ _She's bound to warm up eventually. _

And with that thought, Sun set about gathering his few possessions, including the apple, which, funny enough, his allegedly indifferent partner had gone out of her way to steal for him.

* * *

A short while later, the pair were seated across from each other in a small compartment on a train headed out of Vale. Blake seemed content to sit in silence, preoccupying herself with a small, brown, worn-looking book. Sun, however, was unaccustomed to sitting in such uneventful silence, and figured that now would be as good a time as any to start melting her cold façade.

"So… how're you?"

His weak attempt to start a conversation was met with silence whole enough to make Sun wonder if Blake hadn't heard him, although, with her extra set of ears, there was really no way she could have _not _heard him. However, he was nothing if not tenacious, and Sun was determined to get know better the person that he could conceivably spend years traveling with. Plus, he would be damned if those years were spent in awkward silence thick enough to touch.

"Um… what was the White Fang like?"

"Like home, up until the slaughter of fellow living beings became the organization's policy."

And with that, the silence descended into, if possible, an even deeper level of awkward than before. _Maybe that wasn't the best choice for small talk, _he mused to himself. Sun was about to make a further attempt at conversation when the compartment door slid open, revealing a burly, middle-aged man with a thick mustache and a uniform which identified him as a staff member of the railroad system. Behind him stood a woman, who appeared to be in her thirties, and whose swollen stomach showed her to be several months pregnant. Behind her were two children- a girl of about seven and a boy of about five.

The six people stared silently at one another for a few seconds, before the man cleared his throat.

"As you two can see, this woman and her children are in need of seats." Neither Blake nor Sun responded to this, so the man continued, "Unfortunately, we have been unable to find a compartment for them." The man's not-so-subtle cue for them to leave was still met with nothing but silence. The conductor, now slightly red in the face, plowed onward, "Would you be so kind as to give up your seats for them?"

Although he faced them both, this last part was clearly directed at Sun, and, although unspoken, the words "_Because you're a faunus"_ were an implication clearly heard by all. Sun's normally cheerful demeanor was immediately replaced by an expression that betrayed his growing anger. However, before he could respond, Blake spoke up.

"Of course, sir. We'd be more than happy to share our compartment with them."

The conductor's face grew a shade redder, irritation growing. Blake stood now, her deep amber eyes locking with his own.

Sun shuddered slightly, not envying the conductor's position. Although normally quiet, he was learning quickly how imposing and, he even dared to say, ominous, she could be. Although the few words she'd spoken to the man were nothing out of the ordinary, Blake managed to convey such an intimidating aura with them. Perhaps it was a side effect of practically growing up in an environment such as the White Fang, or maybe it was just who she was, but Blake clearly had an intimidating authority about her.

After a few more moments of eye contact, the conductor, now sweating slightly, nodded, fiddling with his uniform, most likely as an excuse to break eye contact. Then, much to Sun's surprise, the conductor nodded again, quickly verified with the woman that this would be "quite acceptable", helped them deposit their bags into the overhead storage area, and made his leave.

* * *

The woman, and her children, now alone with Blake and Sun, stood in the doorway for a second, looking uncertain. Then Blake at the woman smiled with warmth that surprised Sun even more than her sudden display of authority, and repositioned herself closer to the window, leaving more than sufficient room for the woman on her seat. She spoke now, all ominous authority gone from her voice and replaced by a friendlier version of her usual tone.

"If you'd like, you could share this seat with me, while Sun" she said, gesturing to him, "Watches your children."

The woman hesitated for another moment, biting her lip. _Of course she wouldn't want to turn over her kids to some stranger, _Sun pondered. _Just like any good mother. _As always, the thought of "good mothers" brought a familiar twinge of emotion to Sun.

Blake, meanwhile, also seemed to understand the situation, and she nodded, an understanding smile knitting itself on her face, "You have nothing to worry about. He's completely trustworthy."

Sun could only hope that his expression didn't betray his confusion. _Trustworthy? I guess she get's more out of silence than I do. _However, Sun didn't feel like pushing his luck, and he really wasn't in the mood to be thrown out of the train car, so he held his tongue.

Whether because of exhaustion, or the convincing, warm confidence that Blake seemed to be radiating at the moment, or both, the woman finally conceded, and her children skipped over to Sun's side of the compartment, before they hopped onto either side of him. The woman, meanwhile, situated herself next the Blake and heaved a great sigh, the air seeming to leave her like a deflating balloon. She offered a hand to Blake, and the latter shook it. The woman pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, smiling shyly.

"Thanks. It's been a long journey for us. My name's Melissa, by the way. And these are my children; Rebecca and Harry." Hearing their names, the children turned towards their mother and Blake, offering a brief nod each.

Blake returned the smile, before introducing herself. "And I've already introduced you to Sun."

Sun smiled his standard, humorous grin, which was know by nearly everyone he'd met to set people at ease.

After that, the trip passed by in a blur. Sun, as it turns out, wasn't a half bad babysitter. His outgoing nature let him get along well with the two children, whom he was growing quite an attachment to. He'd tell them jokes and stories, they'd play quiet games while their mother slept, and they never seemed to grow tired of his tail. Not in the mocking, malicious sense that most adults saw this mark of his faunus heritage through- rather, in the innocent, curious way that a child saw the world.

They also meanwhile spoke more with Melissa about where she was headed with her children. Her husband, she said, had been a Hunter, in Vale on business. On his last day there, he got called in unexpectedly to calm a riot that had been instigated by the White Fang. In his attempts to stop the violent vandalism of a shop, he had been shot and killed in the line of duty, leaving behind his two children and a wife that would be soon expecting a third. Melissa and her children were headed home, back from his funeral.

Sun was surprised with the calm manner in which she told them about all that had happened to her now broke family. As if she understood what they were thinking, Melissa smiled a small, sad smile, her eyes shining with unshed tears.

"It's been hard- of course it has. It's hurt so much. But I… we," she continued, gesturing both to herself and to her two children, who were slumped over, asleep, on either side of Sun, "Need to keep moving. I'm proud of my husband. So, so proud. He died doing a job he loved, carrying out what he saw as a duty to protect innocent lives."

Just then, the train grinded to a halt, and the conductor's voice rang throughout the train, calling "Stop number seven! Stop number seven! Last call for stop number seven!"

Melissa nodded, then went to wake her children. After saying their fair-wells (Rebecca and Harry took turns shaking Sun's tail), the three grabbed their luggage from over-head, and began making their way out of the compartment. Melissa turned back one last time, right before she closed the door.

"Thanks… thanks for everything. I hope we can meet again, someday." Then she turned to close the door and, in the last second before her face was obscured by the compartment door, and the sunlight streaming in from outside struck her face in such a way that she looked, for a moment, both a thousand years old and fresh as a raindrop. Then the door had slid to a close and a few minutes later, the train was pulling out of the station.

* * *

Sun turned to Blake, realizing that they were now, once again, alone in the compartment. He wondered whether or not they would return to the stony silence of before, and if he should make another attempt at conversation. But with a jolt, Sun noticed that Blake looked different than she had before. She was gazing out of the window, seemingly wrapped in melancholy. Her eyes looked slightly glazed over, as if she wasn't really seeing the scenery flash by the window. Her mind seemed to be elsewhere, and wherever it was, judging by her slightly hunched shoulders and unconscious, dejected frown, it was no where happy. Straining his ears, Sun could just catch her murmuring to herself.

"Vandalism… riots… innocents… more dead… broken… family… innocent…"

Sun didn't even bother trying to hide his sigh, doubting that Blake would hear it through her misery. _She's still thinking about what happened to Melissa's husband… because of the White Fang. _Sun frowned. _Why? It's not her fault. Why should she have to feel guilt in the place of those heartless, murderous… _Sun realized that he had begun to grip his staff tightly, and loosened his hold on it. But still, it just didn't seem right that Blake, who absolutely refused the White Fang's newfound murderous tendencies, was still hurting because of what they did. Sun didn't understand why, when she had been happily taking part in their little makeshift family not five minutes ago, Blake was now a wreck again, all because of some stupid organization.

As the train slowed to a stop again, Sun, without making a conscious decision, stood. In the next moment, he reached out, across the small coffee table in between their seats, and had taken hold of one of Blake's wrists. The jolt, apparently, was sufficient to shock her out of her stupor, and her amber eyes met his teal ones, confusion evident in her gaze. Sun grinned, something that was already becoming a familiar expression of his, and, rather than releasing his gentle but firm grip, tugged slightly on Blake's arm.

"Put it out of you mind, okay? Otherwise I'm going to have to have all the fun myself in," pausing, he glanced out of the window, trying to figure out what city the train had stopped outside of, "Wherever we are." He finished.

Blake blinked slowly, turned her gaze to Sun's hand, which still grasped her wrist. Then she looked back into his eyes, and, for the first time, directed a genuine smile at Sun. It may not be the full-faced grin that he usually shot at her, but it was warm and sweet and it seemed to brighten up her whole face. _She should smile more_, he thought for a split second. But then she was speaking, and now she seemed to sound less apathetic and her voice had taken on a pleasant, friendly tone.

"_Wherever we are?_ Surely you don't mean to say that you just decided, on a whim, to get off this train and charge into a strange city?"

Sun's grin widened even further. "Perhaps I did."

And with that, he turned, still unconsciously clutching Blake's wrist, and half- ran off the train and towards the unfamiliar city.


End file.
